Method of making steel sections



y 'w.$.BR|NK 2,159,371

METHOD OF MAKING STEEL SECTIONS Original Filed Jan. 1 6, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Zmventor Way 0:40 5. 3mm

May 23,1939. w, ',B NK, 2,159,311

METHOD OF MAKING STEEL; SECTIONS Original Filed Jan'. 16, 1935 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Zinnentor n m FIELD .5? ,w/v/r (Ittorneg Patented May 23,1939 PATENT OFFICE n 2.11am

lemon or me s'rsm. sac-nous"winfleldillflnhfikrom'ohlmassignonbymeaneassignments, to The FirestoneTire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, a' corporation at Ohio Originalapplication January 10, loss, scar m 2,041, how mum No. 2,140,151, mm 1. 1939. Divided and this application August 1,

1m,- Serial No; scsss V s cum. zs-isan This invention relates to methodsof making steel sections, and more especially it relates to procedureforrolling steel rims such as pneumatic tire 1 I .Inthe manufacture or tirerims of the character mentioned, the steel blank or metal bar is heatedand then hot rolled to a channel form that is as near the desired crosssectional iorm of the finished rim as possible. In this hot roll- 1 ingoperation, however, it is impossible to form 1 on thejchannel lateralflanges which define a greater angle than approximately 80 with theofthe forming rolls. Because this fact it is n, in the production ofrims having an overhanging side gutter, that the'side fiance oi' thegutter be formed during the hot rolling operation at an angle ofapproximately to the axis oftfie'i'orming mils. 'lhe channel thus formedsubsequently is cut to the'desired length,

I rolled to circular shape, and the ends welded together. Thereafter itis n by a plurality of cold rolling operations to turn the gutter up toan angle of with medial or base portion 0! the rim, and then over toapproximately an angle I of 70 vwith the base, which will be anapproximate angle oi with the axis of the rolls.

The side flange formed integral with the base of the rim, on theopposite margin from the gutter, alsoisperpendicular in partto the rimbase a in the flnishedaim and therefore is required to be formed in amanner similar to that above described with relation to the gutter. Thusthe combination of gutter and side flange in a single rim necessitated ahot rolled channel form in 8, which the side flange and gutter madeangles of not more than approximately 80 with the axis oi the rolls,which fact in turn necessitated a plurality. of cold rolling operationsto produce the perpendicular side flange and the overhanging.

d0 Butter.

'lhe chief objects of the invention are to derise a process 0! making animproved steel rim section wherein the overhanging feature of the gutteris eliminated and'a construction provided in lieu thereof that iscapable of being shaped placeinthegutter.-

Rei'erringtol'igureloi'thedrawings, ilandii denote a pair of cooperatingforming rolls which serve to hot-roll a channel I! into the so crosssectional form shown, which includes an upwardly extending flange italong one longitudinal margin of the web andasecond, downward- 1!extending thickened flange it along the otherlongitudinalmarginoifthewehthe latterflange 25 comprisingagutterll.Itwillbeseenthatthe baseorwebportionofthechannelisformed with a dihedralangle I! located substantially along the longitudinal center line of theweb, said angle being approximately on that face of 80 the web thateventually becomm the inner peripheryofthetire'rhm'lisisclearly'shownin.Figure 1,thatportionofthewebthatinch1desgutterflangellisrolledsubstantiallyinparallelismwlththeax'uoftherollsllJLandmaybe :3 consideredthenormalplaneofthewebsothattheangleliisformedentirelybymnoithat portion of theweb which includesflange ll extending obliquely downward from the normal planeoitheweb.Itwillbeseenthatinthe 40 structuredescribed, the 1 188 Il may have ,aportion that is substantiallyperpendicular to the adjacent web'portion,yetsaidflange portion willbedisposedatanangleof'lOorlesswit-hrelationtotheaxis of roll ll. 7

The gutter isalongitudinally extending groove of irregular profile,having a transversely arouate rear face ii extending'from its top to itsbottom,astraightfrontwall I!" of shallowdepth anddisposedperpendiculartotheaxisofroll ll. 50,

and a ledge li extending from the bottom of the gutter to the bottom offront wall ii", the Juneture of said walls and ledge being suitablyrounded. The flange II in which the gutter II is formed is substantiallythicker thanany other so portion of the web, and its marginal portionhas a substantially semi-circular profile Il said semi-circular surfacemerging, on the under side strips of desired length, which strips arethen of the flange, with an oblique or tapered surface l4" that extendsupwardly toward the web I 2.

Because thegutter l5 comprises no overhanging or undercut surfaces, andbecause the perpendicular gutter face I 5'' is comparatively shallow ornarrow, it is possibleto hot-roll the gutter side of the web to finishedshape without inclining it atan angle to the axis of the rolls III, II.After cooling, the channel i2 is cut into shorter coiled to circularform andgthe ends of the respective coils welded together as is wellunderstood in the art. The channels are so cut and -welded that in theresultant rings the web portion thereof that includes the gutter flangeII is parallel to the axis of the ring, the web portion that includesflange l3 being disposed at an angle thereto and constituting agenerally frusto-conical structure, as is most clearly shown in Figure2.

The endless channel is next subjected to a single cold rolling operationwhereby it is given its finished cross sectional shape. As is mostclearly shown in Figure 3, the cold rolling operation is effected by theuse of forming rolls l1, l8,

which rollsfflatten the web of the channel by drawing or' forcing thefrusto-conical portion thereof outwardly into alignment with thenormally disposed, cylindrical portion of the web,

whereby, portions of the side flange 13 are brought into perpendicularrelation to the base or web. In Figure 4 is shown the finished tire,

rim complete with a removable retaining ring or flange 20 mounted uponthe gutter flange I 4.

By the process,- described, a tire rim having a partly perpendicularside flange may be formed by a single cold rolling operation. Theprocess has the further advantage that the deforming of the rim in thecold rolling thereof occurs solely in portions thereof where the metalis of least weight or thickness, whereby the operation is fanot inalimiting sense; accordingly, various modiflcations of the invention maybe resorted .to without departing from the spirit of the invention orthe scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. The method of making tire rims which comprises hot rolling a steelbar to form a web that is relatively heavy and-still along one marginalportion and has a portion from adjacent its ion- .zgitudinal center lineto its opposite margin bent downwardly on an angle below its normalplane, bending said web longitudinally and joining the ends thereof insuch a manner as to produce a ring, the portion that includes the heavymar-.

ginal portion being substantially cylindrical in shape and the otherportion of the webdei'lning a frusto-conical figure, and then coldrolling the ringto cylindrical shape by drawing the irustoconicalportion outwardly.

2. In the method of forming a rolled steel structure consisting of atransversely straight web portion, the flange portion extending. up-

wardly at substantially right angles to the web for a portion of itsheight along one longitudinal margin of the web and a second flangealong the other longitudinal margin of the web, said last-- named flangeextending downwardly below the webv and being generally V-shaped andthicker than other'portions of the structure, the steps which consist inhot rolling a straight steel bar to substantially finished dimensionswith a portion of the web from adjacent its longitudinal center linetosaid first-mentioned flange bent downwardly at an angle to theremainder of the web to form a generally W-shaped structure, circlingthe structure and joining the abutting'ends thereof, and finally.shaping the structure by drawing said originally downwardly bent portionof the web radially outwardly to transverse align-'- ment with theremainder of the web.

3. The method of forming a tire rim havingv a, tire retaining flange onone lateral margin of the finished rim, and a heavy, relatively stifiside-' ring-receiving gutter portion on the other side thereof, havingsuch dimensions and such shape that it can only. be hot rolled andcannot thereafter be distorted during subsequent manufacturingoperations, which method comprises hot rolling a steel section toproduce said gutter portion integral with a fiat base portion contiguouswith said heavy portion and a portion contiguous with said flat baseportion disposed angularly to form a dihedral angle, and whose margin isformed with an upstanding tire retaining flange, circling said sectionand joining the ends thereof to provide an annulus with said gutter inthe periphery thereof, and with said angularly disposed portion formingafrusto-conical portion with said tire retaining flange on the smallerend thereof, and

thereafter expanding said frusto-conical portion

